Fallout Equestria: Choices
by Delta Hooves
Summary: Inspired by and in the universe of Kkat's Fallout Equestria... "Choices can be a burden as well as a Opportunity" -Delta Hooves, Stable 50
1. Prologue

Prologue

You're probably wondering… Who am I? And why you're bothering to read my story if it ever survives longer than I do? Well… to be honest if you're gonna ask me then you came to the wrong pony for that second question, as for the first I'll get to that in a bit. Though what I will say is that I was in the exact same situation as you with that second question more times than I can count, "why bother?"

It turns out that one thing everypony underestimates these days is the ability to make our own decisions. For example; the choice of waking up early or sleeping in for an hour or so, to help somepony or to help yourself, maybe even to decide who lives and dies. The more burdening of these choices I've had to make more times than I'd like to remember, at times to the point I'd happily use one of my bullets on myself.

Nowadays though? Such decisions need to be made all the time yet years ago before the bombs fell such thoughts would only occur within the minds of guards, emergency crews or those having a REALLY bad day, now though you'd be lucky to step a hoof around a street corner without making such a decision. So yeah, if you have a gun when you're reading this I'd double check you at least have one in the chamber, no telling if somepony might be sneaking behind you. But anyway, I've postponed with paranoia and memories long enough, time to answer that first question of yours.

My name is Delta Hooves, I'm a 19 year old green Pegasus with a cutie mark that pretty much was the insignia of a Special Forces attachment that used to be in my Stable. As for me, I'm… well… I WAS a guardspony back in Stable 50 just outside Ponyville, never heard of it? Well I don't blame you, if you'd go anywhere near it's site now you'd probably get radiation poisoning so bad you'd get just about every form of radiation illness in less than a minute without Rad-away. Though it's probably for a good reason because what happened back there would make you question why? Just… why? Though I should get into those details in a bit when you know more…

Firstly I should tell you a bit about Stable 50: The stable itself was set up amongst the hills that overlooked Ponyville, or y'know, what's left of those Raider infested ruins, such a shame, I heard it was such a nice town before the bombs fell. But anyway, yeah, Stable 50 was one of the more isolated Stables but in this one we included both Equestrians and Griffons that were able to get here in time long ago. However while they kept us under the same roof you'll learn pretty quickly that it only seemed to make things feel worse. Every day for the guards there our jobs turned more and more from security to Law enforcement as we were hooves at their necks and their talons were at ours.

Speaking of which my final days there would probably be a good start as to start telling my story. Remember what I said about choices? I'll be making a fair amount of them in what you're about to read... We all have stories about our times in the Wasteland, this is mine as it started a good few months ago…

 **Fallout Equestria:**

 **Choices**


	2. Chapter 1: Stable 50

Chapter 1: Stable 50

" _The Stable that went silent."_

 **THUMP**

"Ooof! C'mon really? Why? Was a shake of the shoulder not enough for ya?"

Outright and literately punched out of my dream, I could feel my forehead throb as I ran a hoof over the point where, moments ago, a hoof came into a rather harsh impact. A hoof attached to a certain Warrant Officer that pretty much made my role in Stable 50 hell no less…

"Sleep's for the weak Corporal Hooves, now get up, it's your shift."

Warrant Officer Chevron, of all the ponies within the bowels of this stable to join the guard and somehow rise up the ranks, it just HAD to be him. Wait, what did he say about a shift? Pulling over my pipbuck from the bedside table I would turn on the display and toggle through it's options until I reached a bookmarked document marked "Shifts". Admittedly though from how often I found my name upon the blocks I felt tempted to get rid of that F on that file title. However though as my focus switched from the clock to the timetable and back, things didn't match up, hell, it was HIS shift for the next 2 hours.

"Actually it's your shift sir."

"Well that's the thing, I suddenly remembered that I let paperwork build up, so I decided to use a little Delegation… what are you waiting for? You wanting sanitation duty?"

That final threat would end with a toss of a helmet in my direction, a move that had been done countless times to the point I caught it with a wing whilst my hoof would rub my eyes, cracking my neck a little as my chuckling superior left the room, the door hissing shut as I got to my hooves and made for the sink, taking my toothbrush in my hooves I would begin to clean my teeth as I looked into the mirror.

" _Just a few more days Delta… a few more and you're on leave…"_ I couldn't help but sigh as I tried to mentally reassure my tired, sleep deprived reflection staring back at me half-heartedly. Deciding not to waste no more time I would finish up my morning routine and head back over to my locker, where I had left a paper copy of the shift patterns up to read over as my wings took down my Stable Overalls and padded barding.

"Ok let's see… Armoury? Nah Flint Lock's got that job. Propaganda? Nope, hell I wouldn't do that job if I was assigned it. Law enforcement patro- ah, there we are… well, time to get patrolling. And… stop talking to myself, getting kinda weird."

Giving my head a shake I would get suited up and slip on my Pipbuck, it's red display turning green as it made connection to my condition, giving me a short vibrating buzz as the symbol of fatigue turned yellow. With the remainder of my requirements held on by my barding webbing, being a Baton, first aid kit and a radio that linked up to my helmet's earpiece. Sliding on the helmet I would link up the wire and a reassuring tone of connection sounded out in my ear. Looking back in my reflection I sighed as my eyes wandered to the scratches and dents that were held by the metal behind the raised face shield.

" _Let's get this over-with…"_

The long and increasingly dull hallways of the Stable were a sight that many of the residents became familiar with, soon followed by absolute boredom where propagandist posters didn't line the walls. "Better Hooves than Talons." "Keep Feathers on wings, not bodies." That was the one thing I never understood about this stable, was why we were force fed information every single day about why Equestrians were superior to Griffons. I never really understood the reason why tensions had to be so high, all it did was-

" _Responders to Floor 6 Mess hall B, we have a code 4 in progress."_

Just had to open my Luna-be-damned mouth didn't I? "This is Corporal Hooves, I'm on my way." This was about as exciting as Stable life could get aside from a room fire or an annual dance. The constant racial tension between Pony and Equestrians would often spark up fights and all kinds of other trouble. Like the trouble that was in the door at the other end of the hallway my galloping hoofsteps echoed through, time to put an end to this.

 **HISS! THUNK!**

Upon entering the Mess Hall I would see a sadly common sight, a griffon and a pony throwing slashes of talons and punches of hooves, rushing over I would tackle the Red Earth pony off the Griffon and stand between them, wings unfurled.

"ENOUGH!"

After my bellow order both the Stallion and Griffon stood, looking over to each other with faces of disgust as I turned my gaze to one then the other. The griffon had a black eye whilst the Pegasus had a couple lacerations across his front upper legs, explaining why lengths of his forelegs had trails of slightly matted down and deeper colour that reflected the dim lights.

"Now, why don't we just calm down and start from the beginning? What happened here?"

"He stole my food!" The griffon's accusation was instant and almost interrupting as I would then turn my attention to the Pony to hear his side of the story.

"Don't speak bullshit, the featherbrain just went crazy when I popped down for a meal." At an instant I had to bring my wings to bear once more, pressing against the chests of both the assailants as the insult would nearly provoke another fight.

"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down! There's no need for that… you're both in trouble as it is…" Out of the corner of my eye I would spy a set of saddle bags, tossed off into a corner of the room. The Stallion's story only seemed to make less sense. "Those yours?"

His eyes would turn to them then back to mine with a smug face. "Yeah, so? Are you gonna arrest this beak face or what?"

"Empty them." At an instant his pupils shrunk, his form seeming to turn cold in an instant as he looked back to the back and myself once more, looking confused.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, empty those bags, if you got nothing to hide there will be nothing suspicious in them."

"Pftt, don't tell me you're seriously beliv-"

"NOW sir..." He would give one last look to the Griffon behind me as he would then sigh, trotting over to the bags and with a swing of his head, tossing them to my hooves where they emptied, a few apples and bread rolls rolling out onto the floor.

"He already had an entire meal to himself, this is hoarding!"

"I don't care what it is, you still stole from him. You're under arrest. You ha-" Before I could get a set of cuffs onto him, a flying full can of protein flew into my face, hitting the lowered face shield of my helmet with enough force to shatter the Perspex glass as he tried to run off. That is, if reinforcements hadn't arrived and he didn't run into the tackle of a blue unicorn in the same uniform I was in. Instant karma much?

"You ok sir?" Looking over to the griffon as I got back to my steady hooves from my stumble, I would smile and nod, though the fact I could feel that perspex piece slightly imbedded in my cheek hurt a fair deal.

"Yeah I'm fine… So, what is this about the food then, why'd you take more?" The griffon would sigh a little, sitting down onto his haunches as the other guards seen to the still struggling stallion.

"I-It was for my daughter, Quiver Step… She's been getting bullied lately at school and can barely get to the cafeteria without encountering them. So, lately I've been doing this for a while to give her packed lunches, to ensure she can be with her friends safely and happy in the classroom… I know I should have asked of it first but I was worried I'd be denied. I know what I did was wrong and I won't resist arrest." He would look up to me with a solemn face, holding out his front paws to be cuffed. Protocol dictated that I should have him on trial for thievery…

But I never really was one for protocol. Pushing away his paws gently I would pull up my Pipbuck and accessed the communicator and with a few rapid taps or so with my wingtip I placed my hoof back down. "There, I put an order in for her to be authorised school meals collected by you. The lunch boxes will be sent to you and you can give them to her before school."

Needless to say the look on his face as he stood up was one that I couldn't help but smile from. "Thank you sir. If only more of these residents were as kind as you." And with that the griffon would head off, allowing me to regroup with the others of the guardsponies. Among them was the blue unicorn that had arrested the assailant and was now finishing up with the report on his pipbuck whilst the others seen too it that the Stallion was taken away.

"Ah, Corporal Hooves, first on the scene again Delta?"

"Hey Sergeant, who's the guilty this time?" Responding to my question Sergeant Cuff Tap would look into his pipbuck, toggling a few displays until he came to a familiar face of the assailant and read his file.

"Ah, looks like we got a repeat offender, Tap Drop, 34 year old stallion working in Water purification. 3 counts of resisting arrest and 2 counts of assault and now theft of property and assault on guardsponies."

I couldn't help but smirk a little as I heard that last crime. "Well, I do suppose that he threw a tin at me-."

"And got a piece of your face shield into your face, hold still." I would then feel his magic grasp the piece of strong plastic and pull it from my cheek, causing me to wince lightly from having it on it's way out, giving the now blood caked cheek a wipe with a hoof to clear off the dripping blood.

"Cheers mate. What you wager his sentence is gonna be?"

"Pfft, at least sanitation duty. Y'know, THAT duty."

I couldn't help but laugh a little as I recalled that punishment. "No better punishment than needing to get your hooves in the shit… literately." This would spur on a chuckle from the Unicorn in return.

"Nope! And hey, nice work back there. See about getting that wound patched up. I'll let Clinic 2 know you're coming."

"No need sarge, I'll head for Clinic 4 if that's alright." Needless to say he would raise an eyebrow towards me from that request.

"The Griffon Clinic? Alright I guess. Catch you later Hooves." With a hiss and a bang the door would shut as I gave a returning wave back. Heading off to the medical clinic on the Griffon wing.

Footnote: Level up!

New Perk: Good cop - Unlock unique dialogue options with certain ponies and 20% chance for hostiles spotting you to hesitate attacking.


	3. Chapter 2: Of Griffons and Ponies

Chapter 2: Of Griffons and Ponies

" _Half Feline, Half Avian, all friend? Not in Stable 50…"_

" _KEEP YOUR CREDITS SAFE, BETTER IN HOOVES THAN CLAWS. Every day without proper security you risk losing your currency to those greedy Griffons. Keep it sa-"_

 **CLICK**

Damn propaganda, who the hell even listens to it anymore? Heck, it sickened me half the time to realise Ponies were actually believing these constant messages and to think it would often boast a feature about us that supposedly made us a more efficient race than the Griffons. In my opinion; I didn't mind if one of us had an extra leg or a missing eye, in the end we're all residents of this this Stable and I always preferred to see it about the kind of Griffon or Pony there were, not WHAT they were. If everyone could see it that way I doubted I would even have a job, almost everyone would get along just fine and this Stable might even thrive by focusing on improving conditions, rather than, for example; setting up a wood workshop only to get boards to barricade windows should the time come a riot breaks out, hell we didn't even have that much spare wood much after a certain drunk smoker set fire to the Apple Farm! No thanks to you, Carbon Grasp… Needless to say the replacement Griffon had done a far better job.

Speaking of Griffons, I found myself soon nearing the checkpoint of the Stable, while all that separated our part of the stable from theirs was a thick blast resistant wall without as much as a window, the only way across to their side would be this doorway where both a Pony and Griffon stood guard side by side. In my mind it expressed how bad the tensions were here, so bad that there had to be a whole search to ensure one side didn't send attackers to the other.

"Halt." Coming to the set of double doors before a chamber, I would obey the Unicorn's command, unfurl my wings and allow their telekinetic energy and claws to search my form for anything that might flag up as suspicious. Sure enough, I would feel both my medical kit and baton be removed from my form as the Griffon patted my form. Sure, it seemed excessive but it isn't like such things didn't happen before, a thought that had popped into my head as my eyes wandered to the left door of the decontamination chamber, it's paint and polish long since gone as the scars of a petrol bomb marked it's once untouched surface. Remembering the routine I had to pass through a dozen times, I would raise my hoof which brought my pipbuck to a scanner that read the barcode engraved on it's side beside the screen.

 **IDENTITY: DELTA HOOVES**

 **RACE: PEGASUS**

 **GENDER: MALE**

 **RESIDENT NUMBER: 235**

 **OCCUPATION: LEVEL 2 SECURITY GUARD**

 **CLEARANCE AUTHORIZED**

Stepping aside, the Griffon would press a switch on his pipbuck which allowed the doors to draw open. Once gestured, I would remove my pipbuck, overalls and armour and place it onto a conveyor belt, those would have their separate decontamination as I stepped off the hard concrete and onto the metal grids that made up the floor of the chamber, stopping halfway as I lay my wings upon the rails either side and closed my eyes as the doors closed behind me.

" **DECONTAMINATION CYCLE INITIATING IN 3, 2, 1."**

The deep computerized voice echoed in the chamber until it was sounded out by the rushing sprays of sterilizing vapours and sprays over my form from above and below. I could barely stifle a shudder and gasp as the hotter chemicals soon cooled and were then followed by a final rinse of even colder water, kept on reminding me of the shower block as it rained down over and sprayed up and around me, cleaning pretty much every inch of my form. Then finally would come the drying winds generated by the fans, another reason I kept my eyes closed. I felt a smile tug at my lips as I imagined myself not in a chamber, not in the stable but in the sky, the wind rushing past and under my wings as I flew faster than anypony could gallop, it made me feel so... alive…

" **DECONTAMINATION CYCLE COMPLETE."**

Taken from my daydream, I would sigh as I opened my eyes, raised my head and stepped out into the Griffon side of the Stable, brushing a wing though my mane as it dribbled the shower's spray onto the floor.

" _Ughhh, mane's still wet…. They REALLY need to see about fixing those drying fans, don't want to ruin the helmet padding. If we even have any spare padding for this kinda helmet in this stable…"_

On that note I should probably explain something about my headgear: You see, most ponies in this stable would be wearing dedicated Stable-Tec helmets that would cover the wearer's head from the forehead to the back of the wearer's neck and around the sides of the face, however what it brought in cheap cost and protection against attacks from the side, it sacrificed in ways of hearing and made it hard as hell to look around. Seriously, you'd have to be face to face with somepony in order to have a decent conversation and actually make out what they say! Oh and don't get me started on how easy it is to sneak up on somepony wearing one of those. You could have a marching band behind them and they wouldn't be any the wiser!

In my case, I had something a little different; I wore a pre-war helmet that some nicknamed the Soup Bowl, that said this helmet was no joke, it's ballistic ceramic surface had a fair bit more weight to it than the Stable-Tec counterparts, but the ears would be given an spot that was much more comfortable, protected and better yet, included inbuilt speakers that would transmit any sound below a certain amount of decibels where hearing would be damaged, anything above that would be toned down. Better yet with a few spare hours, and admittedly a few shocks on testing, I was able to get this feature not only up and running on a rechargeable power cell running from a module rail on my helmet, but also got it compatible with my radio too.

Overall, it was a slightly heavier helmet but once you wore it for an hour or so you barely noticed, and while it covered you slightly less around the lower neck and sides of the face, it allowed for better movement, not to mention the helmet itself was designed to stop shrapnel and sub calibre small arms fire. In summary, a tried and tested piece of gear from better times, improved with a little novice tinkering.

But anyway, after leaving the chamber on the other side I would shake my mane somewhat drier than it had been so before. Retrieving my belongings as they passed through along the belt to the collection area, I exception of my medical kit and baton. As I began to process of putting them back on I would gain attract a few looks from passers-by, while most were kind smiles from those I'd given proper, unbiased treatment to in the past, most were simple looks of disgust and disapproval. Not like I expected much else, on this end the propaganda was pretty much in reverse to what it was back on the pony side. Very little had changed since my last visit on this end, hell, on that note; next to nothing changed in this Stable, especially my dilemma on knowing if that was a good or bad thing. Regardless, it was time to see about getting myself patched up, so I would make my way to a familiar clinic.

" _Ok let's see, down the stairs, first left and then the second room on the right. Got it."_ Recalling those directions from a long time ago I would make my way through the various hallways and past the occasional Griffon, at one point I would nearly be ran into by a pair of young Griffoness's giggling as they chased each other though the various hallways, needless to say the sight of someone so young be so happy in a place that seemed so dull both confused me and warmed my heart. My focus off the tag chasing youths, I would soon find myself coming up to a single door marked with a red cross, a door that would slide open gently with a slow hiss, revealing a lone Griffoness behind a desk, her eyes down on some paperwork that I knew would end up boring her.

" _Paperwork never really was your interest Charity Heart…"_ I would smirk a little as I would think this to myself, giving a quick clearing of my throat to grab her attention.

"State injury and- oh, Delta, hey. What brings you here?" Her eyes surrounded by black patches would light up as they looked over to me. Me and Charity would often be seen as 'The odd ones out' when it came to Stable 50. While everyone else was divided over propaganda and racial ideals, me and her were united since foalhood through simply not giving a damn and looking at the bigger picture. She had been serving in the medical professions whilst I took more prevention approaches that often ended up in resulting in less work for her and the other fellow nurses, pony and griffon alike. Though when things did go wrong big time, they were always there to try and avoid another bag being sent to the furnace. They needed us and we needed them, just a shame that few of us like me and her got on so well.

"Hey Charity, not much, you got a minute? I got a bit of a slice."

"Anything to get off this paperwork for a minute, how bad? Griffon swing a claw?" Coming over, she would gesture for me to take a seat on a bed, where I complied and rested on my haunches.

"Nah, food tin to the face shield, got Perspex shard in the cheek." The Griffoness could barely help but roll her eyes as she gave a smile.

"Well, that's gotta be the funniest cause of the week. I'll get some Insta-stitch, what happened?"

As she got up I would begin to tell her the story of what happened but much more summarised. "Ah, some Stallion from water purification tried to steal some food a Griffon was getting for his daughter. Proved him guilty and it turns out an Earth Pony's throw combined with a full tin of Apple segments and juices can make for quite a hit." At that last part I would point up at my face shield, which now had a whole shard knocked out around my left cheek and a crack leading up past my eye.

"I bet, those Ponies use their hind hooves to buck trees in the farming departments, I wouldn't expect less from their throw. You got lucky though, from how hard you got hit, you could have taken a piece in the eye." Shuddering I would give a nod at this before she came back, the thought of losing an eye chilled me to the bone, it reminded me of my old partner in training, one busted steam pipe and I had to walk him to his quarters. Poor lad was devastated and who could blame him?

"Pft, hell with that… So, how has your day been?" I would wince a little as she would pull out a soaked swab she held in her talons from a bottle and began to brush over my wound, it stung like buck but it helped in the long run to avoid infection, if there would be any past that decontamination earlier.

"Ah it's been ok, had 2 Griffons with hangovers walk out today which is alright, been stuck with reports and forms ever since. Hell, they even want me to see about delivering medicines to the elderly ward, so now I need to add THAT to my schedule as well."

"You know, I'm usually on patrol around here and elsewhere, if you want I can see about taking care of that for you." She would raise an eyebrow from this but otherwise keep focusing as she would begin to place a patch onto the coat of my cheek.

"You sure? You don't have to if it's a burden."

"Nah it's fine, I got nothing better to do anyway, besides, gets me some time away from the others."

"Let me guess, Staff Sergeant giving you hassle?"

"Warrant officer now but yeah, that said Officer Flank-head has more of a ring to it." With this light hearted humour we would both share a chuckle before mine would be cut off by a gasp from the sharp pain on my cheek that stayed for a minute before passing.

"Hate them too eh?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Yeah well, that proves they work." She would give a sly smirk as I could only shrug in agreement, her claws catching the patch as it fell away after it healed, running a wing over the spot where I was moments ago lacerated was now scarred but sealed up.

"Thanks Charity. So um, this courier job?"

Having almost let the thought of my previous offer slip from her mind, she would respond after a second of confusion. "Hmm? Oh! Right, I need you to pass up a couple boxes of medicine to the Elderly wing. It's just on level 2 and on the right side, you can't miss it. And again thanks for this."

"Hey it's no problem, really. If anything consider it me returning the favour for the patch up." She would simply roll her eyes at that one as she came over with a couple metal boxes under her wings which she set on the table.

"Oh shush, you selfless bugger and get along. See you around Delt's" Giving a chuckle, I would take the boxes under my wings and head to the door.

"Likewise Char." And with a final smile I would proceed out and head to the stairwell.

Footnote: Level up!

New Perk: Unbiased - You earn 10% more experience from quests given by Griffons.

Quest Perk Added: Field Medic (Level 1) - Medical items and ingredients now have 10% less weight.


	4. Chapter 3: Memories

Chapter 3: Memories

" _There's a reason why we closed our door again…"_

" _Ok, level 2 and now on the right… where is that room?"_ These thoughts pondered my mind as I left the stairwell and walked into the hallway of level 2. Though there was a slight flaw in the advice I was given by Charity 'You can't miss it.' Yeah, that's VERY specific when almost every door in this Luna forsaken stable looked the same. Now that I thought about it, I wondered if the other stables were so… well… dull? Well, I suppose 'End of the world shelters' weren't exactly designed for looks. _"Now let's see what each of these doors are…"_

" _Storage? No."_

" _Private Quarters? Nope."_

" _Restroom? Nope squared."_

" _Elde- AHA! Elderly quarters."_ Satisfied I had found the room, I would step inside to find that it would be a room that would be a small subsection of rooms that stretched down a long corridor, a reception desk on my left would cover the form of a Griffon lost in the realm of dreams, shaken only from his sleep by the slam of the door behind me.

"Wha-who-where!? Oh wait a minute… what are you doing here hoof stepper?" His reaction was that of surprise but soon turned to harsh scrutiny as his eyes soon focused on me, jeez if this was his stare at someone he must have trouble keeping staring subtle around the females… None the less I would look up to him as I explained.

"Helping out. I got some supplies here from Nurse Charity Heart. Where do you need em?"

"Oh? A pony helping us? Pfft, ok seriously, where's the bomb?" His dark sense of humour would only spur on a deadpan look from myself as I simply stared and waited, keeping quiet where others would give a 'Buck you' or something rash. Sure enough his smirk turned to a look of 'You're no fun'. "… Down the hall and on the set of drawers, leave them there and get out."

"Thanks… _jackflank._ " I will happily admit I made that remark, one part of it purposely silenced, as I passed down the corridor lined with doors left and right, each having those who had been here for decades. Regardless though, I would reach the indicated storage area and place the boxes onto the counter.

Just as I was about to turn back though, the sound of coughing from a room marked 09 caught my attention. Eyeing a glass and a nearby sink, I would quickly fill up the glass and enter the doorless room, looking to my right as I entered. Sure enough, there would be a lone, elderly Griffon on the bed, coughing quite harshly as I came over with the glass.

"Sir? You alright?" Coming over to the bedside I would hold out the glass, earning a confused look from him as he took it in his claws and took down a few sips of the drink. His coughing subsiding as his throat was given a remedy for the time being.

"I-I am now, cheers kid. What's a pony like you doing here?"

"I was popping by the clinic a couple floors down, decided to see if I could help out in any way and got some supplies to deliver up here. Prescriptions I'm guessing." This would put a smile on the face of the Elder I was alongside as he carefully sat up on his bed a little more upright.

"Ah, that sounds like Charity alright. Heh, always such a kind lass she is. Though I will say; you're more help than that receptionist is these days. Treats that desk area like his bedroom sometimes, I swear." With that statement, it was my turn to have a smile on my face.

"Heh, no kidding, entered the room and I think he may have made the seat damp." It's almost surprising really, how quickly you can put a smile on someone's face just by talking to them. Chances are he's been alone in exception from family visits in here and yet here I am, talking to him for little more than 5 minutes being a total stranger and claimed hating race and we were already laughing away. Though as my head dipped down for a second, his laughing ceased.

"Hey, let me see your helmet kid…" My helmet? Needless to say I didn't expect this request but sure enough, I would unclip the chinstrap and hold it out to him, which he carefully took into his claws. Running a talon along a few of it's indentations that came from unknown times. "Ooof... this is a little heavier than I remember."

"Yeah I… wait… what do you mean? You've seen this before?" Well, this just got interesting.

"Oh yeah… plenty of times before the Stable door shut. What you got here is a Pioneer helmet. Haven't seen any of these in years for Griffons, let alone a Pony one. How did you get this?"

Thinking back, I would recall going through the armoury sorting out all the different weapons and barding that we had at the time 3 years ago, however as I searched through the different lockers and storage rooms I would find this helmet on a crate that actually had my surname, though I left it to coincidence at the time, armoury duty while on a 48 hour straight work shift does NOT leave much energy for thought.

"I found it in the armoury a few years back, felt as if it would do a lot better than those padded riot control helmets we get as standard."

"Such a shame, helmets like these would be upon the heads of the Ponies and Griffons like myself that went out to the world outside the Stable. Pass me that black spine book on your 6 o'clock low, will ya?"

This Griffon had been outside?! Ok, NOW I had questions to ask as I passed him the book, which turned out as he opened it to be a photo book, each page covered in monochrome still images of a time that may have very well been before I was born. "What was it like out there? Not like… y'know… how it looked before all this I imagine?"

"Oh Luna no… Kid… I'm not gonna lie, the things we saw out there... You'd be begging for nightmares just to get a good night's sleep." He would then draw a picture up where a band of 4 Ponies and 3 Griffons stood together in a group photo by the great door that separated our home from the outside. His talon coming to a rather happy looking Griffon on the right. "You see that handsome Griffon? Heh, that was me just before my first time outside. Sadly though I wasn't so uplifted when I got back 3 weeks later… nor in as much company."

"So… you lot were... friends?"

"Not at first, though as we began to train and know each other more, racism and all that crap? Flew right out the window. We trained as one in this Stable so we could be as one outside it. Hell, you see the two Ponies in the middle? Those two got married after we came back on our first tour."

Ok, now THAT was touching, just goes to prove though how much even a little time in hell could bring Ponies and Griffons together. "Lucky them, who were the lucky couple?"

"The Earth Stallion was Dashing Star; a real sharpshooter, let me tell you that. The Pegasus Mare was Sly Hooves; she'd beat you in anything from snooping around to beating you in an air race. They both changed their surname to Hooves after they got married." Though this was where his voice would go from upbeat remembrances to a more saddened tone. "Sadly though, into their tenth time outside the vault. They never returned… Nopony knows what happened to them, just that their foal would be an orphan from then on."

Wait a minute… this sounded… familiar. "Did you know what the foal looked like?"

A slow, haunting silence would prevail as he would turn his face to look to mine. "He looked like you." Those words alone made my heart sink.

"Y-You mean?"

A slow, saddened nod would come from the elder. "This… was your father's helmet. The last we could find of him and your mother, there's a chance that they're still out there though. But alas, that was years ago and that door's been closed for a decade-"

"OI!" Snapping my head around, I would find that the receptionist had woken up and was standing in the doorway, needless to say; he didn't sound, let alone look happy in the slightest. "I told you to get out! Now, beat it before I call security!"

My wings raised out I would try to calm him down. Well, I suppose I overstayed my welcome as it was. "Hey, hey, take it easy, I was just leaving." With the receptionist calmed down, I would give an apologetic look over to the Elder who would simply nod in understanding as I picked my helmet back up and seen myself out. Though I had done so with a heavy heart as I would return myself back through the checkpoint, collected my previously taken equipment and make for the mess hall where a few of the guards had begun to spend their breaks.

Yet as I sat there with a tray holding a couple apples and bread. I could find myself with no desire to consume even the glass of water's contents my hoof spun around on. My eyes constantly shifting back to my helmet which my apparent father I never knew had worn… possibly died with…

" _What happened Dad...? Where are you and mom…?"_ Before now I thought I knew what it was like to be alone, but to feel this much? I might as well have been the only pony in the Stable. Memories of nights spent alone in my foalhood coming back as my ears flopped down-.

" _Requesting any available guard personal to Level 1, repeat, any guards head to Level 1 for quarantine, over."_ Shaken from my thoughts, I would sigh and was just about to turn off the radio, then looked across the hall to see that pretty much no-one else would respond, and the last time there was a job where nopony responded, 3 Griffons and 2 Ponies died.

" _Buck me and my selflessness…"_ "This is Corporal Hooves, responding now, standby." With a sigh I would release the transmission toggle on the radio and step up from table, leaving my food behind me as I placed my helmet back on and made for the next floor up. Sadly enough, I could admit that this long since the balefires had dropped, accidents with issues such as pipe ruptures, wall cracks and even cave-ins on certain rooms was surprisingly common. Apparently even reinforced pre-war concrete holding up Luna knows how much earth above us had it's sell by date. In total up to a third of the first and second levels had lost about half of their original rooms, one of which included the previously recalled armoury, leaving us with little more than a couple of pre-war side arms and Sub machine guns that were literately made out of bed parts.

Up ahead I would see a door that highlighted as the one needing closed according to my pipbuck, quickly coming over I would double check that there was no pipbuck tags beyond this point, didn't want to trap anyone inside. Though as I done so, I felt something cold…

"What the…?" Looking up I would turn my head to the direction where the cave-ins apparently occurred, though the way the chill came from that direction, I felt it blow over my side and move the fur of my coat-

 **BOOM!**

" **Door sealed, incident isolated."** The slamming of the door followed by the booming voice of the speakers would catch me off guard, causing me to jump back a bit in shock. It would take a few moments but soon I found myself calmed down from the shock.

"Probably just the wind…"

Reassured I would turn around and start to walk my way back to where-…

…

…

"Wait a minute…"

A hoof still in the air as I came to realise something was up as I slowly looked back to the steel door I just sealed.

" _Tunnels don't have wind…"_

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Historian - You now earn 10% more experience from using Pre War equipment.


	5. Chapter 4: Directive 02

Chapter 4: Directive 02

" _The wasteland doesn't knock."_

Today didn't turn out quite as I expected, heck, at all even. When I woke up I had expected to pretty much leave my quarters, do a job or two, break up a fight here and there over the littlest of things, visit Charity and repeat. That's what had basically happened ever since I joined up with the Stable guard yet today I was left with more questions than answers: What as my father doing out in the wastelands? What happened to him and my mother? But moreover, why did I feel wind from a sector that had barely even had air conditioning, let alone a way out to the outside world? These questions were gonna keep me distracted and maybe even up late for days unless I had answers.

" _Responders please advise, we have a suspected classroom skiver. Griffon male, teen, heading along level 2 towards the recreation sector. Over."_ Another one? Really? Realising that I was probably just around the corner from the class dodger, I would roll my eyes and start a moderate trot over to the bend that would lead me to the pupil.

"Corporal Hooves responding now, standby." Turning the corner I would hear the gentle clacking of talons on the concrete floor. Slowing down, I would quieten my pace and come to the door that lead to the arcade, entering the room and standing beside the door, waiting for the young Griffon to enter. Soon enough, the familiar form of the dodger entered. "Dodging school again Ginx?"

The youngling would freeze, sighing as he turned to face me, an obvious look on the trouble maker's face as I placed a wing over him and lead him out the arcade. "For Luna's sake, how are you so far ahead of me every time? Get the message cop, school sucks."

"Yeah well stick into it and you might actually learn; 1, how not to be an embarrassment to your parents. 2, how not to be the world's worst hider. And 3, some skills that won't get you known as a slacker in this Stable."

"Hasn't it occurred to you that I have better things to do?"

"Like what? Stare at a screen and press a few buttons all day like I caught you trying to do the last 6 times?" My deadpan look would make the Griffon stare to the ground, grumbling as we came to the checkpoint, the Griffon guard's expression turning to one of regret and disappointment as he looked to his son.

"Sir, mind if I take it from here? I would like a word with my son."

"Yeah sure, go ahead. Be sure to ask him how he got here, I doubt he came in past this way." Nodding the Griffon would lead his son to another chamber to pass through, just as the one I front of me opened up and revealed a familiar Griffoness. "Charity?"

Her sleek form would be still slightly damp even after the windy aftermath of the passage to get through here. A set of Stable overalls coming through along the conveyor as she noticed me. "Oh, hey Delta. What brings you here? Passing through?"

Sighing, I would give a shake of my head in response. "Nah, Ginx trying to skip school again." Charity would furrow her brow as the name brought memories of this individual, nodding in acknowledgement. "Yourself?"

"Just coming through to see how the Pony stocks of Medical supplies are doing. Heard they were having a shortage of clean bandages so I came to see how much you had in reserve."

"Well, we haven't resorted to bed sheets so there's a good sign." My attempt to lighten up the mood succeeded as we would both give a laugh while she got dressed, her form soon fully clothed as we made our way to the Medical storage on the first level. Needless to say most of those we passed would give her less than friendly glances as we got to the first level-

 **BA-BOOM!**

All of a sudden the whole Stable would shudder and rock as a loud boom echoed through it's walls, the hallways going dark for an instant before the lights flickered back on. The crowds that were once whispering behind our backs now openly demanded an explanations from no-one in particular. Recalling who was on door duty for today I would pull up my Pipbuck and get on the camera feed as my radio roared in response from the door guards.

" _All guards, please advise! We have explosions outside the Stable door! Repeat, we have unknowns trying to breach in! Requesting immediate sup-!"_

 **BA-BOOM! SCREEEE-BANG!**

" _Oh Luna above, they've breached the door! Multiple contacts, all arm- OH SHI-!"_ The radio transmission would suddenly cut to static as the video feed revealed to my eyes and that of the Griffoness peaking over my shoulder, of the Stable door being forcefully blown back, slamming loudly onto the ground as several ponies rushing in from the outside, clad in rough and menacing body armour plates and even leather padding that bore spikes for shoulder ramming I would presume. The unicorn would raise what appeared to be some kind of Sub Machine Gun, dumping it's magazine into the guard who would be silenced from both radio transmission and life in a hail of lead.

"Luna above, Delta, what do we do?"

Hearing the gunfire down the halls over her question, followed by the panicked screams of once completely safe ponies and griffons, I knew those combatants were heading right for us, looking to my side I realised that my Baton would do me no good. I needed a better weapon, no, we ALL did, fast! But the only real firearms were in the hooves of the security teams on door duty, and with the sounds of their feeble and unreliable pistols going quiet, I knew that was no option.

"Run." This idea would confuse her, she gave a look to me in bewilderment.

"What?" Just as I was about to reply I saw something in the corner of my eye, a door opening behind her to reveal a tall, bloody Earth Pony wielding a face shield that had some kind of saddle, one holding what appeared to be a Machine gun!

"RUN!" Draping a wing over her, I would get her out of the way of the Machine gun spray, the sounds of the rapid firing near deafening in the halls as we turned corner after corner. Soon though a wall would halt our attempt to escape, eyeing a storage room, we both had an idea. Getting into the room the door shut a little louder than I'd like, one of them might have heard that.

"In the crates, hide." Hearing her hushed advice, I would eye a couple of deep hooflockers, each on either side of the room and just big enough to hide us. Taking one of each, we opened them up and hopped inside, carefully closing the lids over us as the sounds of a pair of Ponies came closer and closer to the door outside, one sounding like a Stallion, the other like a Mare but neither of them sounded the slightest bit right in the head.

" _Ho ho ho, that last bunch were a blast!"_

" _Blast? Pfttt, my flank! 2 of the fuckers got away!"_

" _Why do you think we're looking for them dipshit? I swear if you thought as much as what we're doing now compared to that brothel last night we would have found them by now!"_

" _Aha, well that's why I bet they're in…"_

 **HISS BANG!**

"Here!" Right after the door opened my ears would be deafened by the sound of gunfire thundering into the Storage room, the impacts of each round different as it smashed and shattered concrete, wood and glass alike. Soon though it ended with the final cases impacting the floor with their echoing dinging. At least, I thought they did, from how loud that was I could barely hear a damn thing DESPITE the hearing protection in my helmet. Peeking out of a small hole in the metal hooflocker, I would try to see the armed assailant that had pretty much murdered an entire month's worth of supplies in food and medicine, however all I could see was Charity's case across the room and a dozen dents and scratches over it and the remains of a food crate on top of it.

"Yeah, congratulations smartflank, we could have, oh I don't know, EATEN THOSE!"

"Shut up, will you bitch!?" The sound of a hard whack would sound out followed by the sound of crumpling, by now my heart was racing as everything unfolded just out of my sight. Soon though the male of the two would slowly walk closer and closer, before long his brown form slipping into my view. Where he paused and where he slowly turned to my direction, my wing slowly reaching onto my baton but freezing as I found myself not staring at the Stallion's chest and legs, but the still hot barrel of the machine gun. I felt as if time had slowed for me, I couldn't blink, I couldn't even breath as I found myself frozen, staring down the barrel. This was it, I was done for…

I closed my eyes and silently prayed for either a quick death or a miracle, for once in my life just a second chance!

 **Clack!**

"Argghh, Jamming piece of…" Wait, a jam!? This is my chance! Thank the goddesses!

With a jump up I would activate S.A.T.S, time slowing in my mind as I entered a magic and science induced concentration, holding my baton tight I made my plan as my training kicked in.

" _Ok, one swing to the head to stun. Another to the legs to unbalance. And a final buck to the FACE!"_ Exiting S.A.T.S, I would bring my motions into execution. My baton whooshing through the air and bashing against his temple, his eyes once wide in shock now closed in pain as I briefly felt the crunch of bone against the hardened steel rod. Landing on my hooves and reversing the momentum through on an opposite spin, my baton hit hard against his right foreleg, the force from the hit on his left side of his skull nearly making him topple right there and then. But that was what the last move was for, leaning down on my forelegs I raised my hind ones, pulled them back and delivered a forceful bash to the face, causing him to stumble back on his hind legs and fall onto the ground.

Panting lightly, I would look over to the now unconscious gunstallion, from this new perspective though I would also see the mare who was with him, her blue coat now stained red like what pooled around her head and coated the wall where she must have been hit.

" _What the buck is wrong with these ponies!?"_

"Hey." I almost jumped as I looked behind me, soon though realising it was Charity. Damn adrenaline was still pumping in me, made me jumpy. "You ok?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, I um, knocked him out, you ok?"

"Yeah I'm…" She would look behind me but as she done so she froze, heading over to the unconscious Stal-

" _Wait… oh Luna… is that… BLOOD?!"_ My eyes went wide as I looked to the now increasing pool beside the Stallions head, then to my baton which sure enough was dribbling the stuff! At the very instant I saw it I would drop the baton and look to Heart as she checked out the stallion's vitals. "I-Is he…?"

The look she gave to me answered it all before the words even left her mouth. "Delta… You… You killed him."

At that instant I felt myself come off balance, flopping back onto my haunches as I felt my stomach churn and my head spin. I never killed anypony before, hell, I didn't ever want to kill anypony, not even him yet I still killed him on the spot! "I-I didn't mean to... I… holy buck…"

At an instant she would place a claw on my shoulder. "Hey take it easy, you had no choice. He was out to kill us Delta, you know that. He's probably the one of those who killed. No… are KILLING the others right damn now. So c'mon, snap out of it."

Coming back to my senses, I would get back onto my hooves and nod in acknowledgement. She was right, there were still others of these kind of ponies out there killing fellow stable residents as it was and we needed to get out of not just this room but the Stable itself. We needed to abandon Stable 50 and staying here to mope over an accidental homicide wasn't going to help us. "Ok, right. Thanks Charity. Look, there are way too many of those guys to deal with, we need to get out."

"You mean… leave the Stable? Are you sure you've not gone crazy?"

"We don't have any other choices Heart. We can't fight them on our own."

"Well yeah but that said there's probably even more of those guys out there right now so the door isn't an option. I doubt even a breeze could get past those guys." Wait…

Breeze… wind…

The closed off section! That's it! "We might not need the front door."

"What do you mean?" Her brow would furrow in curiosity from my suggestion, not wanting to waste time I quickly explained the events of what had to be less than an hour ago.

"Not too long ago, I was tasked to seal of a section of the Stable that was compromised, however when I did I felt as if there was wind. That wind must have-"

"-came from outside. Delta, you are a bloody genius! How far?" Her face would light up in hope as she cut in and finished off what I was going to say.

"Just down the hall, c'mon!" Leading her out, we would make out way down to the door I had previously sealed off, needless to say at a much more careful pace as gunfire still echoed through the Stable, and our hooves passed over both bodies and blood. Of both young and old, Pony and Griffon, our brief celebration in hope of escape, turned to a mix of burning hatred for those who torn them down and of sorrow they couldn't come with us. It took all my strength to not lose my stomach's contents for the sake of their dignity, throwing up could wait until I wasn't directly over them.

Luckily for the sake of us and my regrettable urge to vomit from the horrors of the massacre, we would reach the door, my pace picking up to a trot as I brought my pipbuck to the controls and read the screen.

 **MARK 4 BALLISTIC AIRTIGHT DOOR**

 **CONDITION: LOCKDOWN**

 **GUARDSPONY AUTHORISATION ACCEPTED**

 **OVERRIDE LOCKDOWN FOR 30 SECONDS?**

 **Y/N**

As soon as that last line formed on the screen, I toggled to the yes option and confirmed it. "Open sesame."

 **COMMAND: Y**

 **OVERRIDE COMPLETE**

 **OPENING DOOR, STAND CLEAR**

 **PLEASE ENTER WHEN SAFE TO DO SO**

The door would give a whirr as the locks undone themselves and allowed the door to open, from the very instant it done so I could feel the cool wind blow along my form, judging by her shiver, I was guessing Charity felt it too. Looking back over my shoulder I would sigh as passed through the door alongside Charity. A slight part of me wondering if I would ever get to see this Stable again, it had been our home for our whole lives after-all.

After some time of running the wind would becoming stronger and stronger as a slow, almost eerie howling echoed from up ahead, growing louder and louder as we followed it. Eventually we would find ourselves at a door leading into an old kitchen that we had stopped using several years ago due to failures in electrical components leading up to here. Upon opening the door what we saw had made that accident in the past look like a minor hiccup.

The roof was completely collapsed! A huge pile of debris and earth towering in the centre of the room as it lead upwards through a hole in the ceiling, each of our steps echoing in the dead silence as we looked up but saw only darkness as I stared up through the hole.

"You ever do much flying before Charity?"

"Just on the simulator, you?"

"Heh, same-" At that moment both our pipbuck would start vibrate and flash like mad, the same text appearing on screen with every green light.

 **INITIATING DIRECTIVE 02**

 **SEEK YOUR NEAREST EXIT**

 **EVACUTATE IMMEDIATELY**

 **COUNTDOWN SET FOR 30 SECONDS**

 **29**

 **28**

"Countdown? Delta? What's directive 2?" I could only shake my head in response, directives were only able to be authorised by the Overstallion himself. If this was initiated there was no way in hell it could be good.

"Let's not stick around to find out, GO!" Nodding to this Charity would unfurl her wings and take off through the hole with me close behind. The beeping of our pipbucks sounding out past the rushing wind as we flew higher and higher, the hole getting wider and wider until with a sudden turbulent side gust we found ourselves… outside!

We would not take a second to look back as our forms climbed higher and higher into the dark sky, we could barely see a thing as each wing flap pushed the air down below us. Wait, how long had it been? Taking a look back to the hole I would barely just see the outline of the Stable fading into the distance before my eyes turned to the dim glow of my pipbuck.

 **3**

 **2**

 **1**

 **DETONATE**

" _That can't be good…"_ All of a sudden I would find my eyes needing to be shut as the ground where Stable 50 was erupted in a massive and heavy flash, the earth covering it being flown up even higher than us. Slowly bringing my eyes back from behind my hoof I would see an almost haunting sight.

Where Stable 50 lay there would be a huge fireball that plumed up into a mushroom cloud, debris showering down over the land as I saw a distortion rapidly closing in on us. It was a shockwave! "CHAIRTY, HOLD ON!"

As it hit us, my ear protection would barely help as the shockwave not only winded me but near deafened me, my Geiger counter growing crazy as the shockwave sent us tumbling through the skies. The sound of rapid clacking and radio static blaring through my ears amongst the ringing of the explosion and rushing of the wind past my ears as I tumbled and tumbled, I couldn't even tell which way was up, trying desperately to level myself out I would catch a glimpse of something on a turn of a spin, clearer on the next tumble, it looked like it was getting closer on the next. It looked like the ground… Wait! SHIT, GROU-!

 **BAS-**

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Rough landing – You now take 25% less fall damage.


	6. Chapter 5: Rude awakening

Chapter 5: Rude awakening

" _Think you're having a nightmare? Wake up and I'll show you a nightmare."_

Darkness. That's all I can see… Darkness. I couldn't hear anything, how long had even passed after I was blown out of the sky? A minute? Hour? Day even? Was I even alive after such a blast? Is this… death? If so… I just hope Charity got away-

Ow!

Yep! Definitely not dead! If I am, death officially sucks, it hurts like hell, kinda sickening too. Ughhh, no, this can't be death, I'm starting to feel things again. And hear… voices?

"… tellin' ya! That colt didn't stand a chance, it's not your fault ol' timer."

"Yeah but he still went out instead a' me." It was sounding like some male, high pitched and another guy, guessing late 60s.

"It was his call, he was told to stand back and he didn't so you could save more lives." Sounds like there's a female in the room as well. Judging by the echos... in a tunnel? And what are they talking about?

"So I could what? Patch them out to get killed out in the ring?"

"Is that flycolt there not proof enou- Hey, did his ear just twitch?" Admittedly, I could feel my ears twitching as I summoned the strength to my limps, a soft groan leaving me in pain as I slowly started to open my eyes to a blurry vision.

"Yeah, you're right! He's waking up! Shifter! Medpack!" As my vision slowly returned I could feel myself being gently turned onto my side, I must have been belly down in my unconsciousness, slowly I found myself having my vision clear up and hearing less distorted as a light wavered back and forth in front of my eyes, twinkling lightly in it's magical power. "Hey, hey, take it easy Flycolt… just follow the light with your eyes if you can. What's your name?"

While following the light I would find that the caster was a blue Unicorn of stallion gender, a stallion beside him appearing to be the earlier younger voice, was an Earth pony stallion as well, yellow in colour, both of the stallions noticeably covered in a fair amount of dirt and dust. Coughing lightly as my lungs registered the thick atmosphere, I would give a short but clear reply. "Delta… Delta Hooves."

Nodding in confirmation, the Unicorn would cease his magic, and place a hoof on the side of my neck, I recognised the move as to taking my pulse. "Hmmm, no sign of visual or hearing damage, pulse… seems ok. A little pale compared to the rest of your coat but maybe that's from the time he's been out, hard to feed the unconscious y'know? Right, okay Delta, we're gonna roll you back onto your belly, can you stand? Any pain in your legs, or anywhere really?"

Giving a short tense up on my legs, I would feel the muscles ache but other than that I could move all four just fine. "Everything hurts in general, a little sick but I think I can walk, no fractures I think."

In response, I could hear a short throaty chuckle from the Unicorn as he stood up to give me some room after giving my side a slight pull to roll me back over. "Optimistic humour eh? Heh, haven't heard that in a while, see if you can stand up steady, Swiper, help him out could ya?" Looking up I would see the Earth Stallion offer a hoof, taking it he would give me a sharp pull up, nearly causing me to stumble over as I suddenly felt as if gravity put the pressure on a little more, though as I took a few paces back I would find my balance return. "Now take it easy Delta, you've been out for a while." Running a hoof through my mane, I could tell, it throbbed like he-

Wait… mane? Where was my helmet?

"Hey um, where's my helmet and barding? Where are we?" Looking around I could see another indication that I had been unconscious a long time. Last place I was was just outside my Stable, now though I could see I was in come kind of prison cell, the steel bars and concrete ceiling, roof and walls worn down by age.

"We'd best introduce ourselves first…" The yellow Stallion would break my train of thought as he spoke out, bringing a hoof to his chest to gesture who he spoke about. "I'm Swiper Step. This Unicorn who helped you get back to health here? This is Patch. And the changeling back there? That's Shifter."

Looking between the Stallions as they stepped aside, I would nearly find my jaw dropping as lone form of a black feminine equine looked over to me, her eyes a deep blue as she stepped over, brushing her blue mane away from her forehead as she closed the gap step by step on those perforated legs, her horn lightly glowing a blue shade as she looked up and down my form, or at least, I think she is, hard to tell without any recognisable, though what I saw for a second past her head was a similar blue hue… she had something behind her back, and looking at this cell it certainly wasn't anything nice-

Even more so as it swung towards the side of my head, thinking fast I raised a wing loosely to the side of my head, it's catch causing an audible "thumpf" as my wings braced it's blow and caught it, by the feel of it, I could guess it was a wooden chair leg. Seeing her smirk, I could easily see it was a test as I returned with an acknowledging smile. "Nice reactions Delta, you might just last here. Where you from? Word is you were found around Ponyville though that Pipbuck on your hoof tells a different story... Does it work?"

Looking down to my hoof I would remember the Pipbuck, looking down to it I would press onto the power switch with a wing and wait for a few seconds, knowing that this older model of Pipbuck had a feature to avoid accidental activations and deactivations, later versions in my Stable didn't have such a feature due to how useless a feature it was and the fact it saved time, at least this kind didn't chaff your hoof down to the bone. "Ah it's just the power switch, just need to hold it down for a sec, I'm from Stable 50, a Griffon and Pony stable. Well… what's left of it…" Soon I would be rewarded by the glowing screen and whirring of the Pipbuck, it's sensors immediately getting to work recognising my health state before coming up with a severe radiation warning, much to the surprise of Patch.

"Goddess's above lad, you're irradiated like hell, no wonder you feel sick, I'll get some radaway for ya." Immediately sorting through the medpack, he would soon produce a vial with orange contents. "Drink up mate, and do it fast, trust me, you'll know as soon as you do why."

Taking the vial in my wing I would carefully grip it, looking to it's contents. It seemed to not stick too much, not much of a smell either. Couldn't be that bad right? Taking the vial's cork off I would down the contents, swallowing what didn't land on my tongue before that two got swallowed-.

Urggh! Yep! Definitely did taste THAT bad, and it was only getting worse in the aftertaste. Enough for me to give off a shudder as I clenched my eyes, resulting in a giggle from a certain changeling. "Doesn't taste good, does it?"

"Nope, ack… Not in the slightest."

"Yeah well, that proves it works… or it's out of date, in the case if food." I could only chuckle a little from Swiper's input when I didn't gag from the horrible aftertaste, handing back the vial that got returned into the small box on the floor. "As for your helmet? Well, the guards took it off you when you got here, they reserve any and all fighting equipment for the ring."

"The ring?" I recalled them mentioning such a place in my unconsciousness seconds ago. No better time to ask about it than the present I guess and so the Unicorn stepped forward once more, starting to answer my question.

"That's the fighting arena here, this is the old hoofball arena just northeast of Old Olneigh. Nowadays? It's a fighting club, everyday slaves are taken here to fight in the ring with anything they can. All for some bastard wanting to see how many caps he can bet on who wins and who dies. Hell the buggers enjoy it so much that they prohibited edged and stabbing weapons, just blunt ones and hoof to hoof combat is allowed for a longer fight." Oh well that was just great, not only have I been captured and made a slave, I now need to fight somepony to the death… Fan-bucking-tastic Delt's… Way to go.

"How long have you lot been here?"

"I've been in this hellhole for about 7 years, Shifter's been here 2 and Swiper got here just 2 weeks before you came in-"

 **BOOM!**

Just as Patch was explaining their length of time here the door outside our cell would slam open, causing all 4 of us to look to the source of the commotion to see a rather rough looking red stallion walk in, his chest bearing what looked like a fair amount of padded barding, each pad of it looking more worn and bloodstained than the last, the sadistic look on his face would carry a grin as he looked over to each of us, his gaze soon focusing on myself. "Well lookie here… Fresh meat… You must be that Stable colt found near that blast. With someone like you I'm surprised you made it out alive from that hole of rats."

" _Rats? Is that what he thinks of me and the others who died back there?"_ I would feel my blood boil as I would hear such words disgracing the friends of mine, old and young, that had died in the Stable. THAT crossed a line. "That would be me, and by your tone I'm guessing you're the flankhole?"

From the very instant those words left my mouth, I knew I would regret it, my theory confirmed as I seen his eye twitch, his expression turning to one of pure anger as he stepped closer to the bars. "I'd learn to use those wings of yours if I were you, you're gonna want to fly FAR from the trouble you'll be in come tomorrow…" With a final bash against the bars of our cell he would walk off further down the hall past where we could see from our perspective, not that I would be looking that way anyway. The voice of Shifter speaking up behind me caught my attention.

"I hope you're a good fighter Delta, you just got challenged by the champion gladiator."

Aaaaand there's the part I would regret… buck… my… life.

"Actually Shifter, this might work out well for us." The sudden speaking up of Patch would surprise us as I would raise an eyebrow questioningly as Swiper would have a slight smirk on his face. Upon asking why I would get answered by the mentioned Yellow stallion.

"Simple, we have a plan to get everyone out of here, all we need is a distraction."

That's when it clicked, these ponies were planning to escape, all they needed was a distraction. That would explain why Shifter tested my reactions earlier and also the earlier conversation I heard as I woke up. Must have been a previous attempt gone wrong, an attempt where somepony paid the price, the thought alone making my head drop down, sighing as I looked to the floor.

"Delta listen, I know it's a big risk and you don't have to take said risk if you don't want to. But we need this and with you here we have everything we need to get everyone who can get out or die trying." Pondering in my own thoughts, I would recall events back in the Stable where I would often have to help those in need, be it looking for a lost youngling or breaking up a fight and getting the wounded safe. These ponies needed my help too.

"We're not forcing you to go through with-"

I couldn't just walk away from that.

"I'll do it." Looking up to the group I would carry a smile on my face, these ponies were taken from home just like I was, even longer than I had by years, my response immediately getting a smile from them as Patch's horn illuminated once more as his voice became hushed.

"Here's what we're gonna do…"

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Glowing Pride - You now take 25% less radiation damage.


	7. Chapter 6: Fight Club

Chapter 6: Fight Club

" _Trial by fire… or brute force as the case may be."_

How do you do it Delt's? How? Fresh out of the Stable and here you are needing to fight a Gladiator to the death. Even as I stared out of the bars to the long hallway, I couldn't help but recall the sad tales of the Green Mile, a long walk where somepony deemed too dangerous for society would be taken to die. Sure, I was no push-over in a fight but a slight bit in my gut felt as if I was to suffer life threatening injuries if not death outright, I didn't even want to kill that stallion in the Stable, how the heck was I supposed to fight someone to the death here?! Closing my eyes with a sigh and pressing my head against the bars I felt a slight cut on my forehead, but at this point I could barely even care, in a matter of minutes I was due to be sent down my own Green Mile, one where either a part of me that didn't want to kill dies… or all of me.

"Couldn't sleep?" My eyes would open as I heard a voice behind me, the familiar feminine tone of Shifter, looking back to her for a second I would raise my head from the bars before looking between them again. In a way she was right, I barely slept during the night but I wasn't sure of how much of it was due to how long I was unconscious, my hunger I didn't dare think on or the fact of what was about to go down, even now I could feel my eyelids try to draw themselves down over my eyes.

"Not really, I wish there was another way to do this." I would hear her hooves come over to my side as she rested her forehooves on the cross bar of the cell.

"I don't blame you, anyone who would happily kill in my mind is simply tearing the world apart. So… this Stable you were from, what was it like there?" That question would silence the rest of my thoughts as I thought back to the Stable, the day to day duties of helping those I must have seen a few hundred times a month. Of the pictures of those lost to time like my family. And of my few but true friends in the cold walls of that place we called Home… that SHE called home…

"It… was alright, peaceful when we could keep it that way. Though these… Raiders as you called them, came into the Stable, started shooting everypony on sight. Only me and one other made it out, a Griffoness and friend of mine called Charity Heart. We got separated by the blast from the Stable's Balefire, I don't even know if she's alive." Looking over to the Changeling, I would see her give a slight nod in acknowledgement to my recollection, followed by a pat on my back with her wing.

"Hey, there's always a chance she's alive, one think I learned out here though? Death is an everyday occurrence nowadays, if you aren't prepared to deal it out to protect yourself, maybe even others… you'll quickly find yourself with death instead, by someone's hoof or your own." At that last statement I couldn't help but lower my head in agreement, from what I had seen just from what happened in the Stable and the hallways of this place, I couldn't deny the fact that for some in this world, peace was no option. "How close were you to this Charity?"

"We were good friends, why do you ask?" Looking back up to her I would raise an eyebrow, what did she have to do with this?

"Well, if anything, fight for her. Trust me, the ponies that attacked your Stable are just like the Stallion, no, Monster that you're gonna be fighting today. Who knows? If this plan works and if she's out there, you may just see her again." Looking back outside the stable I thought over my options for after the plan took it's course, if it worked I could either head on my own, no that would just get me killed, I may know the halls of what was Stable 50 like the back of my hoof, but out there I would find myself lost 3 steps out. These ponies knew their way around, if I stuck with them I would have a better chance.

 **CREEE-BANG**

Snapped from my thoughts I would look over to the door just to the right of the cell 2 ponies would walk into view, both covered in a combination of spiked leather and crumpled metal supported on a loose harness. One appearing to be an Earth Stallion wore what looked like a converted microwave housing as a helmet as the other was a Unicorn Mare with only 1 eye, his absent eye's place covered over in little more than a stale, bloody rag, her glowing horn fumbled with the keys to the lock to the door as the other bore an rebar grid turned head-mounted pitchfork on the side of his helmet, ready to give a gutting headbutt to anypony who did as much as twitch. His voice muffled as the door swung open. "Contestant to the door, slowly."

My eyes would carry an uncertain glance to the others who had been awoken by the noises that signalled the start of the plan, my chest instantly feeling heavy as I stepped forth to the door, the others giving a nod to my advances to the guards, a smile tugging at the side of my muzzle as I seen Patch mouth the words "Good luck" in my direction-.

 **Thump!**

"Move it!" A sudden push from the Unicorn, brought my gaze away from my cellmates as they urged me outside into the hallway, from this new angle I could see the endless hallway that was lined with cells either side, the dim lights dangling from the ceiling, following the Earth guard I would look left and right at the cells that lined our path, my breath being caught in my through from what I saw.

In a few cells there would be ponies of all kinds of races and ages, everything from Griffons and everyday Ponies, to Zebras and even the odd Changeling. Each of them either bore a look of barely any hope and a begging glance for it all to end, others with a look that recognised me as the next contender and either lowered their heads or nodded, likely in understanding with Patch's plan. Soon as I reached a bend that lead to a single dusty platform, I would step onto the wood that held it, eyeing the chains that lead up and gave it the ability of being an elevator.

Past the chain, my eyes would find the glance of a young filly Pegasus, her blue coat marked brown by the dirt and dust as she looked over to me, her wing giving a short wave that nearly broke my heart right there and then. Giving a short wave back, I would soon have to catch my balance as the platform began to rise up.

" _ **Ponies of the wastelands, welcome to the Olneigh fighting arena! Where the miseries of the wasteland, become your entertainment! I hope you put your caps where your muzzles are because up come our contenders of the day!"**_ Looking up I would see the wooden panels that made up the roof above spread apart, the sunlight almost blinding as I held a wing in front of my face to help my squinting eyes adjust to the light while the speakers of the arena bellowed out.

" _ **It is our prided joy to have our searchers look for the finest of Equestria's unwanted for our arena, of all ages and races! Hell, if you join our donator program you can even participate yourself in our games! Yet today we have one hell of a treat for you everypony, because we have got ourselves a newcomer here who has challenged our champion! And here he comes now, give a round of applause for our contestant!"**_ My eyes would barely adjust to the light as I found myself near deafening roar of a crowd, being pushed onto the dusty dirt of the arena I would look around to find myself in what appeared to be a dome cage, crowds of ponies and griffons roaring out from outside. My looking around though being interrupted as I was pushed off the platform, looking back only to see it slip down back underground, leaving me alone in the rubble littered arena as the doors sealed me in with nothing more than a wooden box to my right as a similar hole opened up on the other end of the arena.

" _ **And on our other corner we have our champion of the Iron dome! Killer of 23 contestants! Olneigh sensation! Champion Rock Bludgeon!"**_ If I thought the crowd was calling out when I surfaced, they seemed to be absolutely rejoiced as ahead a lone stallion, clad in leather armour came up from the bowels of the arena, recognising him instantly as he gave me a sadistic grin, before placing on a helmet that seemed to be made of ragged and bashed metal with only a small slit for his eyes to see through.

" _ **Game will start in 30 seconds when the flare is sent up into the sky! Our newcomer has been given, for his first fight, full repossession of his helmet that he was found with. Standby everypony, things are about to get REAL bloody!"**_ I would give one last look up to the platform that stood out from the surrounding bleachers where the crowds stood, a lone figure behind a caged screen staring down at us as I made my way to the box.

Upon looking within I would find my helmet and a small metal pipe, picking up the more protecting of the two I would give it a quick inspection, sighing as I found the radio to not be working. Quickly securing it to my head before taking the pipe under my wing and turning to face Rock. "Ok… this is gonna get rough."

For a second I could only hear my breathing as I focused, looking around my surroundings as pillars of concrete, scrap metal structures and rubble scattered over the battlefield, the dirt we stood upon marked darker by the blood of previous combatants. Behind the shadows of that stallion, while I couldn't see them, I could swear that his eyes looked to me as if I were an easy kill, some side hobby of his.

 **POMFFF!**

All at once, the stadium would roar out as the flare went up into the sky, I wouldn't dare to look though as I charged my opponent, my hooves carrying me as fast as I could order them to, looking ahead I could see Rock charging me, each hoofstep making his move more obvious, his helmet was designed to stab me upon a ram. I need to think fast, distance is closing!

Looking ahead I could see at the point we would meet was a concrete wall, still standing. Thinking of my move instantly I would flick out my wing and catch the pipe in my muzzle. Gripping it's lead surface as I swung my head back, hopping myself along the wall, my hooves lightly pushing upwards on it as I brought my head back forth, feeling the shuddering blow of my pipe against the metal of his helmet, the grunt of his pain accompanied by the sound of bashing metal drowned out by the crowd. Landing back on the ground I would turn to face Rock, who would stumble for a second before facing my direction, the muffled groaning behind his metal cover signalling his pain as he made another charge for me.

Looking around, I would look for a way to escape his charge, my rear backing up to one of the columns as he closed the gap. _"Wait for it…"_ Before long the distance was close as hell, but with inches to spare, I made my move. Flapping my wings hard, I would launch into the air, the crashing of concrete signalling his impact against the pillar. Landing behind him I would turn to-

"RAAAAGHH!" **CLANG!**

…Get a face-full of metal helmet. The force knocking me back and sending the pipe from my muzzle, the side of my muzzle throbbing for a second before feeling a sharp, burning pain down the side of it. Getting myself to my hooves I would bring a wing to that part of my face, though it would feel warm and damp. Looking to said wing I would see that it was, coated in a small patch of blood. Turning my gaze to Rock, I could see that he had been stumbling a fair amount himself, blood trickling down along his neck from under his helmet.

" _The Helmet… It's sharp inside too!"_ Realising that his protection must have been comprised by that first blow, I would turn on SATS and look to my options. " _A bash to the left, a kick to knock him into the pillar again, and another bash to the back of the head, GO!"_

In full focus I could see his attempt to swing a punch onto the left side of my head, ducking under it I could feel the barbed wire of his scrap metal horseshoes scrape my helmet, but just miss my head. My wing taking hold of the pipe again as I brought it to hit the left side of his head that was already being carried right by the momentum of his swing. The bash of the pipe against his head would ring out as he was knocked right, carried over by the swing of the pipe, I would bring my hind legs up and against his hind, the hit sending him back against the pillar he previously rammed. Ending the sequence I would give a hard swing against the back of his head as he tried to bring it back from the pillar, resulting in a cry of pain as his head was forced back against his helmet while I bashed it against the pillar.

My minor victory would be cut short however as his hind legs slammed against my chest, the blow winding me as I would be forced back, landing on my back as I groaned at the throbbing pain on my ribs, running hoof over them I could feel that they hurt but all seemed to be ok, no fractures luckily. Wasting no time I would roll onto my front and climb to my hooves, looking over to Rock I could see that he had removed his helmet, which was now on the ground. Seeing his face alone nearly emptied my stomach, his face would be coated in several trails of blood that coursed down onto his chest, gashes cutting deep onto his cheeks and forehead, the look in his eyes full of rage as he stared to me with a sadistic grin. "Is… that all you got Dweller?! Y-YOU CAN'T KILL ME!"

Giving a small smirk as I looked up into the crowd, I would catch a look of a white unicorn mare, giving me a nod as for form shimmered with a green aura for a second, returning the nod I knew it was time while I returned my gaze to Bludgeon. "I don't need to…"

All of a sudden the ground would be shaken with a groaning roar that caused it to quake, throwing us both to the ground as explosions echoed from below amongst the screaming of the crowd around us. The ground between us breaking apart as my adversary was given a sudden and unexpected drop into the sub-level below, but that's when the whole floor gave way, I felt gravity lose it's grasp on me, crying out I would begin to flap my wings-

 **THUNK!**

Only to feel a sudden, hard impact on the back of my helmet, then nothing.

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Brawler - Damage dealt through melee attacks is increased by 25%.


	8. Chapter 7: Prison Break

Chapter 7: Prison Break

" _Once that first bullet flies, there is no such thing as a plan, just partially directed chaos."_

Slowly I would feel my consciousness return, with it a fair amount of pain from what I could assume was a considerable fall. Trying to move my head as the sounds of crumbling stone, groaning metal and cries of other trapped ponies with the occasional sound of a fight in the distance, I would find that my head was under a considerable weight, but one I was able to push off as stone slid away from me. In addition to my prior injuries of the fight, my whole body was aching like mad but the real burning pain could be felt along my right wing that was warm yet slick to the touch, bringing the hoof I felt along it with forth I could see that it was coated in blood, giving a look to it I could see a considerable gash along it's span. "Well… I'm not flying out of here I guess."

This realisation in mind, I would step up from the rubble and remove my helmet for a second, seeing that the back of it's surface was surprisingly only lightly dented in from the debris that had rendered me unconscious. Putting back on the helmet with my one good wing, I would then survey my surroundings to get my bearings, by the looks of things the plan had worked. The homemade explosives had done their job in crippling the supports of the stadium, causing the arena and most of the inner rings of the bleachers to collapse with them, the rest of the structure seemed to be holding but by the sounds of groaning metal and the sights of cracked stone, it was obvious that it wouldn't hold much longer.

Choosing a direction to go, I would find myself stumbling at first but soon making good pace along where the main holding cells were, most of them broken open and now no longer holding those they once held, I found myself hoping that they got out ok. However as I found myself seeing what looked like a way out, I would faintly catch the sounds of a lone pony crying among the rubble that was near the elevator, my mind instantly recalling to the filly that I had saw earlier. "Hello? Is someone there?"

"H-Help me, please…" My eyes would widen at the realisation that the young filly from before was in a cage that was mostly covered in rubble, her young voice broken up among her light sobbing. Wasting no time, I would spot a hole in the rubble and carefully but hastefully come over to look inside, sure enough the tear soaked face of a young dust cover filly would be there. "I-I'm trapped, please, don't leave me."

"It's ok kid, I'm gonna get you out of here, stand back." Finding a piece of rebar, I would pry it into the slight gap between the damaged cell bars and the slab of stone that had covered a vast majority of the door and pushing against my end of the bar, the slab only just moving slightly as I pushed but it was moving. A sudden slam of stone behind me would earn a jolt from me and a yelp from the trapped filly, the place was coming down quicker than I thought, the roof above us was due to collapse any minute, but I wasn't going to leave this filly here. With a groan as I gave the bar a heavy push, I would be rewarded with the sound of the stone slab falling away and unveiling the heavily damaged doorway. Time to work on that lo-

"Heads up Mister!" Looking up, I would find the sunlight from above being blocked off as another slab of debris descended down at us, cursing as I dove back away from the cage, I would be mortified to hear the sounds of stone crashing onto metal and the scream of a foal. Instantly worrying for the filly, I would turn my gaze back to the cage.

The cage had sustained heavy damage from that slab, though by sheer luck, it held, but not without heavily compromising the door's already rusty lock, the hinges barely even holding onto it as it stood there, the filly inside was alright but another hit like that would spell disaster. Getting to my hooves I would gallop towards the gate and lower my head, my hooves crying me as fast as I could as I soon felt my tried and tested armour smash the door's weakness, allowing it to swing open with a loud screech. Quickly regaining my bearings, I would turn my attention to the filly not far in front of me and come over to her as I removed my helmet and placed it on her head, being mindful for her horn before kneeling down to let her climb onto my back. "C'mon, we gotta go, this place isn't gonna hold long kid."

Being more than eager to leave this place, the filly would nod and clamber onto my back where I held her with my good wing. With my helmet off now, I could hear even more how unstable the stadium had become, all the more incentive to increase my already swift pace as I passed through the halls, the occasional route being blocked off by the sudden collapse of the upper levels, though while I could notice that the newfound gusts were a good indication of us being close to an exit, our route seemed to draw us closer and closer to the sounds of gunfire. Eyeing a breach in the wall up ahead, I would double my already straining pace and make a leap through it, just as I felt the 'whoosh' of the roof of the tunnel we were just in collapsing with a sickening and near deafening roar.

As I leapt through the gap, I would find myself caught off guard by the lack of ground under my hooves, though looking down I would be relieved to find it was no higher of a jump than a single story. While it did force a grunt from me, it was far better a choice than staying back in that building as a cloud of dust burst out from the breach above us. Getting my bearings, I would find us behind a row of barrels as a firefight was underway ahead of us, the so called raiders on the left with what looked like a band of prisoners on the right, no more than a squad armed with what looked like improvised sidearms created from salvaged pipe weapons. Among them I could just make out the dirt covered features of Patch, his magic helping him to carry a mare who looked to be in a fair deal of pain, though despite the distance, I could just make out what he said. "Luna above he's alive, Delta! Get your flank over here! Grime! Covering fire!"

As if on cue, a red Pegasus would start to blind fire his weapon over cover, causing one raider to go down with a cry of pain and a clutch of his face as his tin face shield was hit, the rest taking cover or only poking up for quick, imprecise shots at anything that moved. Without hesitation I made a bolt for their cover, among the gunfire I heard a few shots snap close by me, one of which being too close. Just as I reached the relative safety of the group's cover, I felt a burning pain shoot along my thigh, causing me to yell out in pain as I collapsed onto the ground behind cover, quickly finding Patch turning his attention to my leg where I felt as if it got hit by a searing hot blade, his magic carefully moving one of my hooves that instinctively clutched it, said hoof being absolutely coated in blood that I could feel trickle along my leg. "Bloody hell, it hit grazed an artery. Alright don't worry Delta, we're gonna get you out ok? It's not too bad." A part of me couldn't help but feel as if that last part was a lie, judging by that first curse and how thoroughly he was bandaging my wound with rags. Regardless though I decided to keep my mouth shut, it hurt like hell as it was, no sense pissing off the one stallion I met out here with medical knowledge and looking around at a couple other ponies that HAD got out of the stadium, I knew I wasn't the worst case around here, all the more reason on why I kept holding the filly close.

"What's the situation here?" With this thought in mind, I called to Patch over the sound of gunfire that gave off a constant serenade of noise in combination with the roars of crumbling stone and cries of the wounded. Though even without asking, it looked pretty bad from what I was seeing and, to a degree, hearing as I grit my teeth from my own pain.

"We got 30 of us out and half split off to run for it, 6 recently made a run for the rendezvous, we got 4 hurt and one of which looks pretty bad. We gotta get out now, before they regroup and cut us off, but we'll be cut down carrying the wounded!" Looking back to the raiders through a small break in the cover, I desperately scanned the area, looking for something, ANYTHING that could give us a chance. If we made a break for it under fire, we would be cut down carrying the wounded but there was no way in hell I was planning to leave them, and judging by Patch's briefing, neither was he.

 **Phoewm!**

I would suddenly jolt back into cover as I brushed some dirt from my eyes, one of the raiders must have saw me looking out and taken a pot shot. Once more I felt my heart race for a second, back in the stable many ponies underestimate the feeling of being shot at in movies, laughing at that those who panic as bullets ricochet around them, when you're getting shot at, something clicks in your mind; the pony who fired that gun, is targeting YOU, and planning to KILL you without a second thought. It makes your mind race and your body panic for a second in worries that you had been hit, something that had happened to me once today, I wasn't gonna let it happen again to any more of us if I could help it.

My eyes cleared, I spotted a large electricity pylon that was leaning over to one side with one leg blown off, right over the attackers, spotting a metal surface poking out of the ground alongside it, I knew exactly what to do. Picking up a rock, I would carefully judge the distance, reared back my hoof and let the rock fly. The attackers had stopped firing for a second as it flew into the air, must have thought it was a grenade, though from where it landed, it might as well have been one.

For a second it looked like the whole bottom of the pole had exploded itself, chunks of rusted metal flying everywhere and one even impacting the ground in front of me. Yelling of panic coming from the other side of the firefight as soon the loud groaning of metal sounded out as the pylon started to keel over before slamming down where the raiders were. Dust engulfing the area as the round shuddered for a second under the loud clanging of pre war metal. I couldn't even see the Raiders through the cloud of dust, but that's when it occurred to me, they wouldn't be able to see us! "Now's our chance! Move!"

Getting to my hooves, my whole hind leg felt as if it was on fire, searing pain shooting through my leg as I stumbled lightly, only to feel a hoof catch mine and pull it over my shoulder on my wounded side. I couldn't see a hoof's length in front of me, I don't think anybody could, but they knew where they were going and right now, any place was better than here.

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Wait, they're shooting at me? - Your accuracy is now 10% less effected by incoming small arms fire.


	9. Chapter 8: The Caravan

Chapter 8: The Caravan

" _Can't decide where you want to hunker down? Keep moving."_

Since the brief firefight outside the stadium, things had turned into a bit of a blur, though I'm not sure what's provoking it, the sheer amount of dust we had to go through, the blood loss on my leg, it's pain how fast we had managed to get some distance between us and the raiders despite our wounded including me. Regardless, we kept moving through the night, taking only slight breaks to treat the wounded. With each step however I felt as if the pain from my leg was growing worse, soon to the point I couldn't help but wince with every step as what was left of the stadium faded into the distance and the sun slowly retreated behind the horizon, eventually we came to the remains of what was apparently a destroyed chapel, it's decapitated tower providing a good tower for over watching the area. While we had little to no weapons, we would at least be able to see anyone coming before we could be pinned down and trapped, in addition the pews soon became beds to treat the injured and beds for the tired, a rather inviting option from how light headed I was starting to feel, so much so I had to put a wing onto a pew for balance as I felt myself sway lightly.

"Hey, Delta, you ok?" My focus would turn to the voice behind me as I heard the familiar voice of Swiper, turning my head back to look to him I would press my weight against the church furniture and catch my breath before responding.

"Y-Yeah I'm alright, just a little light headed. It's been a long day y'know?" For a second we shared a smirk, though his face was quicker to return to a serious expression than my own.

"Yeah it has, still, you oughta let Patch take a look at that leg, I don't remember red being a shade of green." Looking back to my wounded limb I could see by now it was absolutely coated in blood trickling down from my soaked bandage, the blood's path occasionally halted by the sheer amount of dirt and grime along my leg. In truth it felt as if it was a throbbing, burning pain even without putting pressure on it, that said; I wasn't one to make a fuss, especially when there were worse off from a situation we barely made it out of.

"I'll let him focus on the wounded first, how are they doing?"

"Fairly well to be honest. We have now got all but 1 stabilized, after that we can deal with the other injuries, Doc should be able to fix him up by the time the caravan arrives."

"Caravan?"

"Yeah, did we not tell you yesterday?" Shaking my head, I confirmed my lack of knowledge on this matter. "Oh right, well, in truth, we have friends we trade with in a Caravan that travels along the wasteland, occasionally stopping by any settlements not taken down by Raiders. It helps us avoid being attacked by any large scale Raider clan-an li-like the one-ne tha-at caught-ught us-us…."

I couldn't help but bring a hoof to my head as I groaned, though I could barely feel said hoof's contact on my head as I could swear everything was starting to echo. "Del-Delta-ta… you ok-ok-ok?..."

Damnit, why am I getting so dizzy? Why does the… room… sway so much? Was anyone still here? Where am I?... Why is the floor so close?

 **Thumpf**

"Ohhh cr-ap-ap, DOC-OC-OC-OC!..." Why was I so tired… eyes… shutting…

Slowly but surely I felt feeling return to my body as I slowly opened my eyes, the world around me seeming hazy at first, I could feel my form feeling a fair bit warm as well, a move of my hoof soon revealed why as I felt it run along what turned out to be a blanket. Giving my eyes a good couple of blinks I soon found out where I was, by the looks of things I was in some kind of tent on a bedroll, my helmet just off to the side, it's radio module seeming to be missing and a small blood bag attached to a small stake next to my hoof, my pipbuck lightly blinking as it indicated my status as healing, a status that returned to it's normal green hue of healed, my apparent physical state being 95% healthy. Rolling onto my side I would groan as I felt a need to stretch my legs, wait, my leg felt no pain! Pulling up the blanket I would find that my leg just below my cutie mark now only bore a hefty scar rather than a heavily bleeding wound, hell, even my wing was healed into what seemed to be flying condition!

"Medicine works wonders, don't it?" Looking up from my once wounded limb, my eyes would turn to what turned out to be the tent's entrance, holding up the flap with a light blue shimmer would be none other than Patch himself. A smile coming onto my face as I recognised the medically proficient unicorn while I got onto my haunches, turning my gaze to the small red filled line that connected my hoof to the previously mentioned bag as a question soon brewed in my mind.

"Yeah it does… How long was I out?" Coming over, Patch would switch gazes between the bag and my pipbuck, must have been checking my condition.

"Not gonna lie but you had us worried for a couple times, you've been out for about 3 days, in that time though we've managed to get a good deal away from Olneigh, heck, hell hounds nearly got us on the way out but we managed to keep them away from us." Hellhounds? What the heck were those? My brow furrowed questionably to him as he pulled the Iv from my arm carefully and bandaged it, a expression he apparently could read. "Basically what you get when Diamond dogs get contaminated with radioactive taint. Trust me, like the name suggests they're like hounds from hell when they're calm. When they're angry however, well, let's just say you should use your wings before even thinking of using a gun. Speaking of which, if you're gonna hang around, the least we can do is help get you some gear, come on, I'll show you around if you can walk."

Getting to my hooves, while unsteady at first, I found myself needing little more than a short stretch to walk, other than that I felt absolutely fine. After a quick placing on of my helmet, which notably had it's radio module removed, without bothering on the chinstraps, I found myself following Patch and stepping outside.

Once outside, I would find myself seeing a couple of wagons about the size of train cars, circled around in a staggered circle formation, the tops of a couple train cars bearing a sandbags held in place with metal bars with little more than a couple ponies going back and forth on each one. Looking around to the other tents I would find less militaristic sights in the form of a few foals playing tag as a couple rested next to each other, a couple ponies working on a few small fires to cook up some kind of food. Such peaceful sights were a welcome break from everything the Wasteland had shown to me so far, even if the train car we found ourselves heading to had chalk markings of a gun beside it's door as we entere-.

 **WARNING, UNIDENTIFIED PERSONAL**

Instantly as I entered, the doorway behind us would slam shut with metal shutters, catching my tail which caused me to yelp as the clacking of weapons in front of me was heard before I saw no less than 2 or 3 rifles with laser sights aim right for my chest, holding their fire however as I tried to get my tail loose.

"For Luna's sake, Sightline! Get your damn contraptions under control!"

"On it, on it! Computer stand down, code neutral." Patch's demands were quickly answered by the sounds of a young stallion, however soon revealing to be little older than a teen as the purple Unicorn revealed himself, or at least I think he's purple, most of him was coated black in what I could think was oil. Though soon after the mishap, the lasers marking my vital organs disappeared and the guns retreated on their swivels behind the desk that was wooden to chest height and had a upper cage of chain linked fence with little more than a slit to pass things through. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure Old timer?"

"I may be older but I don't program turrets to target someone's first time through my door." His retort would carry a chuckle as he quickly responded to the comment on his age before continuing. "Sightline, this is Delta Hooves. Delta, meet Sightlines, our… specialist in pre war tech both lethal and not. That and he's not too shabby at manufacturing weapons… I wouldn't say professional but-"

"Hey! When was the last time me and my tech let you down?"

"Yesterday, that new rifle of yours had it's receiver blow out on test firing, nearly gave me two butts; one real, another wood." To this I couldn't help but spare a nervous laugh, funny from such a mishap, nerving from how the fact the one who caused the incident being someone we got weapons from.

"Well… I blame the parts but hey, nice to see you awake Delta, I took a look at your helmet's long range communications module and managed to not only fix it, but make it capable of wireless linking to your Pipbuck, boosted range and power. You won't be able to send messages from underground but at least you won't go deaf if you receive feedback thanks to a frequency scanner I hardwired into the receiver." Not gonna lie but as he levitated the module over to me, I barely understood some of the things he said but I could get the gist of what he was saying. Sure enough, as I placed it into it's slot on my helmet, my pipbuck would vibrate as it recognised the module attached and displayed a few lines of text.

 **Mk3 'String Can' Communicator found**

 **Running diagnostics…**

 **Warning, algorithms tampered**

 **Beginning scan…**

 **Wire taps found: 0**

 **Corrupted Data: 0**

 **Link to Pipbuck?**

 **Y/N**

Upon selecting Y on the Pipbuck, I would hear the gentle static of the radio tuning in over my helmet's headset. Beginning to scan nearby frequencies for any signals, soon causing my Pipbuck to buzz as it found 2 frequencies.

 **Active Frequencies Found:**

 **TENPONY TOWER**

 **DISTRESS SIGNAL-.G.C**

"Huh, looks like it works, I got 2 Active frequencies here, one's a distress signal." Stating the success of the radio's test, I would look up to the other 2 stallions as they waved a hoof to me, gesturing me to listen in, and so with a press of a hoof, the message began to play.

"- _ttack by Ghouls! Requesting any assistance! Please, somepony, help us! … Repeating message: This is Stable 73 to any Stable Tec survivors, we have Feral Ghouls bashing at our door and I don't know how long it will hold, damn thing has been on the ropes ever since the last Raider attack. We are due south of Hope. I repeat, we are under attack by Ghouls! Requesting Any assistance! Please, somepony, help us!... Repeating messa-"_ Turning off the radio I would look back to the stallions once more, those ponies needed help and I would be damned if I sat aside and did nothing. "Where is Hope?"

At first the pair would seem a bit confused, but none the less answering my question. "It's just to the East, no more than a short run from here… why?"

"The distress signal was coming from a Stable south of it-.

"Um, Delta, you realise that the signals like that could have been repeating for years right? Who knows if who's down there or even if they're still alive down there." My explanation would be cut off by Sightline, he had a point, the message was repeating and could have been doing so for months if not years. But still, it was worth a look.

"Well, it's worth a shot looking, right?" They could see that I wanted to go regardless if I could help anyone or not, a consideration that Path couldn't help but bite his lip at.

"Well… I guess we can't exactly stop you but we can sure as hell make sure you don't go defenceless." Illuminating his horn, Sightline would go behind the makeshift counter and pull out a box, little more than the size of a hoof before opening it up, the sight inside would surprise me alone.

Carefully levitated out of the box would be a pistol of some kind, it's metal receiver polished nicely to give it a dark grey colour, one that didn't reflect the light much but that would only help in darkness, it's grip seeming to be of a unique design, not even the stable 10mm sidearms were much to look at unlike this. Another notable feature was past the brown, hard rubber grip it had a hinge on it's side with a slight chute that bended with it on the other, allowing the user to either fire this from the muzzle or the hoof if he or she curled his hooves around to hold it with two hooves while still being able to feed it's ammunition with box magazines. 3 of which were in the box's padding alongside the gun. "Colt M1911A1, a classic single action sidearm from pre war Equestria. Old and dated in those days but it's effectiveness is undeniable. Firing .45 calibre ACP from 7 round box magazines, 8 if you had one in the breach prior to reload, when this baby hits, it hits HARD. A bit tough to clean, fair enough but even after hundreds if not thousands of rounds, this weapon has been proven not to jam or misfire. It may be just a pistol, but this lone gunfighter has been the difference between life and death in the past, I don't see why it wouldn't be in the present. This one in particular features a little tinkering of my own, allowing it to be held, reloaded and even used while being held in one's jaw, hooves or even wings if you can do it right."

Looking over the pistol I would raise it in a hoof with a wing supporting it to inspect it, using my other wing I would the action of the trigger to be a little stiff but that said, it was a single action pistol that hadn't been used in a while, nothing too serious, I could still pull the trigger if I needed to in a hurry and the action of the slide proved to be firm yet smooth, revealing a polished and maintained barrel and breach free from dirt, dust or rust. From what I had seen in the wasteland so far, this seemed to be a rare piece, a relic from better times but one designed for days like this, and rare would be putting it lightly, I was doubting already he was just gonna hand this over. "How much?"

Though while I was expecting a number ranging in quite a few credits, it occurred to me, that was a digital currency in my Stable, out here the most advanced electric thing might have been my pipbuck! What did they even use for currency out here? "That filly you got out of the arena? Yeah, that was my younger sister. Consider this my way of returning the favour." I couldn't help but smile and nod in thanks as I heard those words, feeling a fair bit of pride in knowing I not only helped free ponies from captivity, but helped to reunite a family torn apart by the unforgiving nature of the Wastelands.

"Well, I hope you two will now be able to live on in peace together… well… as much as one can get of peace out here… What do you use for currency out here anyway?" His expression would turn to that of surprise of my question, sweet Luna, did I really not know that much about the ways things went out here?

"Damn, you really were born in a Stable, weren't ya?" My returned expression alone would answer his question as he levitated a small bag that upon opening revealed… bottlecaps? "Here's what we use; Bottlecaps or 'Caps as we call 'em for short. Like those bits we used before the war, but a little more substantial now. What'd they use in a Stable anyway?"

"Digital credits, got about 20,000 credits on my pipbuck registered. About 2 month's wages as a guardspony."

Sightline seemed understand this as he was by now loading up the Colt's magazines up with ammo. "Well, sad as it is to say, I don't think they're worth anything now. Unless you found some kind of vendor in a Stable somewhere. Other than that I'd keep an eye out for caps and ammo where you can find it. Oh and be sure to check bodies of anyone you find."

"You're joking right?" I could barely believe that, they wanted me to loot the dead now?

"Well, they aren't using what they have anymore, are they?"

As morbid as it was to the point I felt a bit sick in the stomach, he did have a point. As I took one of the freshly loaded magazines of ammo and slid it into it's respective firearm, I couldn't help but wonder, where did it all go wrong out here? They never explained any of it in the Stable. The War, the bombs, the wastelands, all of it…

 **Cli-Clack!**

Not a word of it…

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Tis' but a flesh wound - Bleeding state duration is reduced by 25%.


End file.
